Data monitoring system and method using a single time axis with time information provided by a GPS receiver

ABSTRACT

A data monitoring system in communication network has the global position system (GPS) receiver, a packet data collecting device and a mobile station-packet data serving node monitoring system (MPMS). The GPS receiver provides time information which is received from the GPS satellites. The packet data collecting device collects the communication protocol and communication environment information between a base station and a packet data serving node (PDSN), together with the time information provided by the GPS receiver. The MPMS receives wireless communication environment, data communication environment and mobile communication protocol of the mobile station together with the GPS time information, and receives packet data communication environment and data communication protocol of the mobile station from the packet data collecting device together with the time information, and monitors and analyzes on a single time axis.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a data monitoring system incommunication network and a monitoring method thereof, and morespecifically, to a data monitoring system in communication network and amonitoring method thereof capable of analyzing a wireless environmentand data environment of a mobile communication network and a datacommunication network on a single time axis by adding time informationreceived from a global position system for the data monitoring of themobile communication network and the data communication network,respectively.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

According to the development of the wireless communication technology, amobile phone becomes low-priced and provides improved speech quality toallow a high-quality speech even in a running vehicle. Therefore, theusage of the mobile phone (hereinafter, refer to as ‘mobile station’) isgreatly increasing.

The mobile station basically communicates with a mobile communicationsystem (hereinafter, refer to as ‘mobile communication network’). Thatis, as a wired network is developed via the Public Switched TelephoneNetwork (PSTN) and the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) to theAsynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Broadband-Integrated Services DigitalNetwork (B-ISDN), the mobile network is evolving via the DigitalCellular Network (DCN), which is a voice service, and the PersonalCommunication Service (PCS) to the next-generation International MobileTelecommunication (INT-2000) supporting multimedia such as high-speeddata, packet, and motion picture.

Currently, the mobile station is being demanded to provide users withdata services such as multimedia services or wireless Internet services.The Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) is a data interchange system(hereinafter, refer to as ‘data communication network’) to support thedata services of the mobile communication network, and is also arequired element to provide a very high speed wireless internet servicessuch as 2G, 2.5G, and IMT-2000.

Unlike a router-based system, the PDSN allows use of a Unix server-basedsystem and easy reconfiguration of data backup function and applicationsso as to provide advantages for the operation of the PDSN. Also, as thePDSN is packaged variously according to the scales, it is feasible toexpand the PDSN in a small- or a large-scale server unit.

Meanwhile, it is required to measure the quality of the mobilecommunication network service by monitoring both the wirelessenvironment and the data environment thereof. It is also required tomeasure the quality of the data communication network service bymonitoring the data environment thereof.

Up to now, the wireless and the data environments have been monitoredbased on the local clocks of the monitoring equipments in mobilecommunication networks and data communication networks. In other words,since the clocks of the communication network monitoring equipments arenot synchronized, it is not allowed to monitor the quality of the wholenetwork service or to diagnose the reasons of communication failures byassociating the mobile communication network and the data communicationnetwork or the mobile communication network protocol and the datacommunication network protocol.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a datamonitoring system in a communication system, capable of monitoring andanalyzing the wireless environment and the data environment of a mobilecommunication network and a data communication network on a single timeaxis by allowing the mobile and data communication networks respectivelyto receive a time information provided from the global position system(GPS).

To achieve the above object, the data monitoring system in thecommunication network according to the present invention includes theglobal position system (GPS) receiver to provide a time informationreceived from the GPS, a first packet data collecting device to collect,together with the time information provided by the GPS receiver, acommunication protocol and a communication environment informationbetween a base station supporting a mobile communication service of amobile station and a packet data serving node (PDSN) supporting a datacommunication service of the mobile station, and provide the collectedinformation to a system called MPMS, and a mobile station-packet dataserving node monitoring system (MPMS) to receive at least one of awireless communication environment, a data communication environment,and a mobile communication protocol of the mobile station from themobile station along with the GPS time information, and receive at leastone of a packet data communication environment and a data communicationprotocol of the mobile station from the first packet data collectingdevice along with the time information, and monitor and analyze thereceived information on a single time axis.

The data monitoring system also includes a second packet data collectingdevice to collect at least one of a communication protocol and acommunication environment information between the PDSN and anapplication server along with the time information provided from the GPSreceiver, and provide the received information to the MPMS. The MPMSreceives at least one of the wireless communication environment, thedata communication environment, and the mobile communication protocol ofthe mobile station from the mobile station along with the GPS receiver,and also collects at least one of the packet data communicationenvironment and the data communication protocol of the mobile stationfrom the second packet data collecting device along with the timeinformation, and monitors and analyzes the received information on asingle time axis.

A computing device is also included to receive the communicationprotocol and the communication environment information from the MPMS andstore, monitor, and analyze the received information. The communicationprotocol and the communication environment information are received fromat least one of the mobile station, the first and second packet datacollecting devices.

A data monitoring method in a communication network includes a firstdata communication network monitoring step of collecting at least one ofa communication protocol and a communication environment informationbetween a base station supporting a mobile communication service of amobile station and a packet data serving node (PDSN) supporting a datacommunication service of the mobile station along with the GPS timeinformation, a mobile communication network monitoring step ofcollecting at least one of a wireless communication environment, a datacommunication environment, and a mobile communication protocol of themobile station along with the GPS time information, and a step ofmonitoring and analyzing the data collected in the first datacommunication monitoring step and the mobile communication networkmonitoring step on a single time axis.

The data monitoring method also includes a second data communicationnetwork monitoring step of collecting at least one of a datacommunication protocol and a packet data communication environmentinformation between the PDSN and an application server along with theGPS time information, and a step of monitoring and analyzing the datacollected in the second data communication network monitoring step andthe mobile communication network monitoring step on a single time axis.

The method also includes a step of providing a computing device with thedata collected in the mobile communication network monitoring step, thefirst and the second data communication monitoring steps, and storing,monitoring and analyzing the data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a data monitoring system in acommunication network according to an embodiment of the presentinvention, and

FIG. 2 is a view showing data monitoring methods of the data monitoringsystem by time synchronization in a mobile communication network and adata communication network respectively according to the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the data monitoring system and itsenvironment in a communication network according to the presentinvention, which illustrates a mobile station 20, a base station 30, acontrol station (BSC/PDF) 40, a PDSN 50, an application server 60, a GPS100, and the monitoring system 95. The monitoring system 95 includes amobile station-PDSN monitoring system (hereinafter, refer to as ‘MPMS’)10, the first packet data collecting device 70, the second packet datacollecting device 80, and the GPS receiver 90 which provides timeinformation received from the GPS 100 to the first and second packetdata collecting devices 70, 80.

The mobile station 20 may be a general mobile phone or a mobile phonefor testing. The base station 30 and the control station 40 providecommunication services in a radio section of the mobile station 20.

The first packet data collecting device 70 collects information on acommunication protocol and a communication environment between thecontrol station 40 and the PDSN 50. The second packet data collectingdevice 80 collects information on a communication protocol and acommunication environment between the PDSN 50 and the application server60.

The MPMS 10 monitors and analyzes the mobile communication protocol ofthe mobile station 20, and the packet data protocol and thecommunication environment collected by the first and second packet datacollecting devices 70, 80.

The mobile station 20 receives the time information from the GPS 100through the base station 30. The first and second packet data collectingdevices 70, 80 are connected to the GPS receiver 90 so as to receive thetime information from the GPS 100. The GPS receiver 90 may be installedin the first and second packet data collecting devices 70, 80,respectively. Accordingly, the mobile station 20 is time-synchronizedwith the first and second packet data collecting devices 70, 80.

FIG. 2 illustrates data monitoring methods through the timesynchronizations in the mobile communication network and the datacommunication network respectively according to the present invention.

As aforementioned, the data monitoring system in the mobilecommunication network according to the present invention monitors thewireless environment, the data environment, and the mobile communicationprotocol of the mobile communication network, and also the dataenvironment and the data communication protocol of the datacommunication network.

The wireless environment in the mobile communication network may befinger information of the mobile station 20 during the testing, searcherinformation, CAI (Common Air Interface) message, received power,transmitted power, frame error rate (FER), transmission regulation,received data rate, transmitted data rate, and so on.

The data environment in the mobile communication network may be datathroughput (such as RLP, PPP, and FTP), data protocol (such as PPP, IP,TCP, UDP, DNS, and ICMP) capture, data protocol indication, TCP windowsize, automatic data (FTP, PPP, WAP), voice call generation history, andso on.

The data environment of the PDSN section may be data throughput (such asRLP, PPP, and FTP), data protocol (such as PPP, IP, TCP, UDP, DNS, andICMP) capture, data protocol (such as PPP, IP, TCP, UDP, DNS, and ICMP)indication, TCP window size, and so on.

As shown in FIG. 2, if the mobile station 20 is time-synchronized withthe first and second packet data collecting devices 70, 80 using the GPS100 and if an event occurs in the mobile station 20 and the first andsecond packet data collecting devices 70, 80, the mobile station 20reports to the MPMS 10 the event (i.e., the wireless environment or thedata environment and the protocol of the mobile communication network)along with the time information. The first packet data collecting device70 reports to the MPMS 10 the event (the data environment and theprotocol) transmitted and received between the control station 40 andthe PDSN 50 along with the time information. The second packet datacollecting device 80 also reports to the MPMS 10 the event transmittedand received between the PDSN 50 and the follower 10 (such as theapplication server 60 of FIG. 1) along with the time information Here,the MPMS 10 itself may store, monitor, and analyze the event.Alternatively, the MPMS 10 connected to the computing device (not shown)may store, monitor, and analyze the data.

As shown in FIG. 2, it is assumed that the MPMS 10 is at a data delaydistance of 1 second from the first packet data collecting device 70 andalso at a data delay distance of 1.5 seconds from the second packet datacollecting device 80. If the first and second packet data collectingdevices 70, 80 do not receive the time information which is providedfrom the GPS 100, from the GPS receiver 90, due to the data delaydistances from the MPMS 10, the information transmitted from the firstand second packet data collecting devices 70, 80 to the MPMS 10 has anevent reception time which is different from the actual event generationtime.

However, in case that the mobile station 20 is time-synchronized withthe first and second packet data collecting devices 70, 80, the MPMS 10is capable of obtaining the accurate event generation time regardless ofthe data delay distance.

Hence, the communication protocol and the communication environmentinformation of the mobile station 20, and the first and second packetdata collecting devices 70, 80 are collected in the MPMS 10 on a singletime axis to thereby allow the monitoring and the analysis thereon.

As aforementioned, in the data monitoring system in the communicationnetwork according to the present invention, the quality or the failureof the wireless data services, which provides services through theinterworking of the mobile communication network and the datacommunication network, can be monitored and diagnosed by using themonitoring the synchronized time information of the GPS. Also, byarraying the generation sequence of the monitored data on the time axisrespectively, the quality and the reason of the failures of the mobilecommunication network and the data communication network through whichthe wireless data path are monitored and diagnosed accurately to therebyenhance the quality of the wireless data services.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed, the present invention is not limited to the disclosedembodiments. Rather, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the artthat changes and modifications may be made in this embodiment withoutdeparting from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope ofwhich is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to the present invention, in the data monitoring system andthe monitoring method thereof, it is feasible to analyze the wirelessenvironment and the data environment of the mobile communication networkand the data communication network on a single time axis by providingtime information received from the GPS for the data monitoring of themobile communication network and the data communication network,respectively.

1. A data monitoring system in a communication network comprising: amobile station; a base station that communicates with the mobilestation; a mobile station-packet data serving node monitoring system(MPMS); a first packet data collecting device; a packet data servingnode (PDSN) supporting a data communication service of the mobilestation; a global position system (GPS) receiver that provides a timeinformation received from the GPS to the first packet collecting device,wherein said mobile station receives the time information from the GPS;wherein the first packet data collecting device collects, together withthe GPS time information provided by the GPS receiver, a communicationprotocol and a communication environment information between the basestation supporting a mobile communication service of the mobile stationand the PDSN, and provides the collected information to the MPMS,wherein the MPMS receives at least one of a wireless communicationenvironment, a data communication environment, and a mobilecommunication protocol of the mobile station from the mobile stationalong with the GPS time information, at least one of a packet datacommunication environment and a data communication protocol of themobile station from the first packet data collecting device along withthe GPS time information, and monitors and analyzes the receivedinformation on a single time axis in time synchronization regardless ofa time delay due to a distance between the MPMS and the first packetdata collecting device; and a second packet data collecting device tocollect at least one of a communication protocol and a communicationenvironment information between the PDSN and an application server alongwith the time information provided from the GPS receiver, and providethe received information to the MPMS, wherein the MPMS receives at leastone of the wireless communication environment, the data communicationenvironment, and the mobile communication protocol of the mobile stationfrom the mobile station along with the time information of the GPSreceiver, receives at least one of the packet data communicationenvironment and the data communication protocol of the mobile stationfrom the second packet data collecting device along with the timeinformation, and monitors and analyzes the received information on asingle time axis.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising acomputing device to receive the communication environment informationand the communication protocol via the MPMS and store, monitor, andanalyze the received information, the communication protocol and thecommunication environment information being received from at least oneof the mobile station, the first and second packet data collectingdevices.
 3. A data monitoring method in a communication networkcomprising: a first data communication network monitoring step ofcollecting at a first location at least one of a communication protocoland a communication environment information between a base stationsupporting a mobile communication service of a mobile station and apacket data serving node (PDSN) supporting a data communication serviceof the mobile station along with a global position system (GPS) timeinformation received at the first location; a mobile communicationnetwork monitoring step of collecting at least one of a wirelesscommunication environment, a data communication environment, and amobile communication protocol of the mobile station along with the GPStime information received by the mobile station at a second location; astep of monitoring and analyzing the data collected in the first datacommunication monitoring step and the mobile communication networkmonitoring step on a single time axis in time synchronization regardlessof a time delay due to a distance between the first and secondlocations; a second data communication network monitoring step ofcollecting at least one of a data communication protocol and a packetdata communication environment information between the PDSN and anapplication server along with the GPS time information; and a step ofmonitoring and analyzing the data collected in the second datacommunication network monitoring step and the mobile communicationnetwork monitoring step on a single time axis.
 4. The method of claim 3,further comprising a step of providing a computing device with the datacollected in the mobile communication network monitoring step, the firstand the second data communication monitoring steps, and storing,monitoring and analyzing the data.